A gleeful reality

Chapter 11

"So? What do you think?" Cory did a quick spin in the three-angled mirror to check how he looked then he turned to Mark. They had returned to try on their newly fitted suits for the Golden Globes a day and a half away.

"No homo bro but you look great." He answered with a smile and gave Cory a pat on the back when he stepped down from the pedestal. "Am I rockin' the duds or what?" He took a slow spin and gave Cory a cocky grin.

Cory chuckled and smiled at his friend. "Yes, they are being completely rocked."

"That's good to hear. I'm happy that you're both pleased with the fits of the tuxedos. I'm assuming that you'd like to take them today?" the same lady that had fitted them for their tuxes questioned with a light and cheery tone.

"Yeah that'd be fantastic." Cory smiled at the peppy middle-aged woman who quickly ushered them both into separate fitting rooms so they could change back into their clothes and she could put the suits in garment bags.

Once they had gotten out of the tux shop, they dropped the suits off to be steamed so they would be nice and wrinkle-less for the big day.

After, the two friends said their good byes and headed off their own ways.

Cory's foot pressed on the gas and he made many turns down the same streets he had been down a bunch of times before. He had memorized every little detail of the directions since they would bring him to somewhere special.

Ten minutes later, he pulled his car over to the curb, put it in park, cut the engine, stepped out of the car, locked it, and made his way in to the very familiar apartment building.

After walking through the lobby, an elevator ride later, and a few knocks, the door opened revealing the beautiful, magnificent girl he had come to love.

Dianna's face lit up at the sight of the tall man at her door and without warning, she quickly jumped onto him, rapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and hugged him so tightly that he thought there was a possibility that his eyes would bug out of his head, but he didn't really care about her anaconda like squeeze. He immediately wrapped his long arms around her small frame and held her close to him. Her hair had fallen into his face as they embraced and he took in her scent. He loved that she always smelled like a combination of strawberries and vanilla.

Some seconds later, she pulled her head back from the crook of his neck but still clinged on and looked at him, her eyes still bright and glistening with her million watt smile.

Just looking at her so happy made him feel like the happiest guy in the world at that moment too.

"Hey." She said softly, staring into what she liked to call, his 'beautiful Hershey eyes.'

He stared back into her thinking he could just get lost in her gorgeousness. Then he let his lop sided grin onto his face and raised an eyebrow playfully. "Do you think it'd be okay if I came in now?"

She giggled and hopped down from his grasp. "Sure."

As he stepped inside of her apartment he said, "You know, that's quite a way to greet someone. It wasn't even two seconds before you jumped on me. What if I had been a delivery guy or something?"

Dianna smirked. "Oh that's who I was actually hoping for but I settled for you instead." She teased and received a smile and a playful eye roll from Cory.

"Oh of course, I mean, don't get me wrong, the guy that delivers to this building is quite the guy but, I'd like to think I'm just as good or maybe even better." He played along.

"Eh, I don't know…" she teased again with another playful smirk.

Cory pretended to look hurt as he clutched at the spot on his chest where his heart was. "Just rip my heart out why don't you Di." He said as dramatically as he could before they both busted into a laughing fit.